Twelve Apologies
by Chibi Binasu-chan
Summary: In which Clara and the Doctor learn more about each other on their adventures in a series of short stories. "Kirk or Picard, my Clara?" he asks her, and she knows he's asking a deeper question. What happens when they're put out of their regular comfort zone? She can't get enough of the competition of wit between them. He's going to drive her crazy someday with that devilish grin.
1. Now We Live In You

**#1: Now We Live In You**

The Doctor had been missing for approximately 7 hours longer than usual. If he hit the 8 hour mark, Clara would start to panic. Until that point, she would just try not to worry too much. It took some getting used to, feeling less like she was being babysat by the ancient alien, and given more free reign to do her own thing. When he would bring her home, she wouldn't see him for a week or two, and sometimes more. She would often go for a day or two without seeing him between adventures on the Tardis, left to her own devices on the ship. Not that she would complain. She treated that time to herself as a vacation, alone time, no Danny, no Doctor. Just Clara and the old girl.

She would adventure through the halls of the Tardis, finding new rooms, some barely cupboard size, and some as large as a cathedral. The Doctor clearly took no issue with her explorations of his ship, and any door she chose to look into would open for her. At first, it felt personal, like she was invading the Doctor's privacy. But she soon discovered that some rooms seemed to be designed specifically for her. The Doctor had waved her off with a "telepathic link" explanation and had gone off down the hall to a room Clara could never seem to find.

An enormous library could always be found when she wanted a good read. The swimming pool was located nearby, and Clara's guilty pleasure soon became sitting in the hot tub while sipping an ice-cold soda and reading Pride and Prejudice. The Doctor never seemed too bothered to find her; whatever he was up to kept him busy enough. When she'd had enough alone time, Clara would mosey back to the console room and he'd already be there waiting for her, preparing for their next trip or to bring her home, with a grin and a wink.

It was only occasionally in between adventures that the Doctor would disappear into the halls of the Tardis and would not come back out for an extended period of time. Clara was never sure why.

Seven and a half hours longer than usual. Clara was starting to go into panic mode.

What if he had fallen into a trap somewhere and was waiting for her to come looking for him? What if he wasn't in the Tardis at all, and she was now trapped aboard the alien vessel with no way to get home? The Tardis wheezed, sounding strained. Yes, Clara reasoned, she was likely overreacting.

Perhaps this happened when the Doctor needed to sleep? She wasn't sure when or if he ever did.

Clara huffed a heavy sigh and put down her book. She got up and marched out of the library with a new determination. Time to find that ego-maniac of an alien.

The halls seemed darker than usual, giving the Tardis an eerie glow. Clara shivered, it was also much colder here than in the warm fire-lit library. She frowned and tried to keep her nerves from skyrocketing. She walked with a false confidence around the corner and considered the various doors that appeared. She had never seen these doors before. Clara wondered curiously about the Tardis' supposed telepathic abilities and if perhaps the old girl was leading her astray.

The second door on the left looked differently from the rest of them, with a wider girth and a larger handle. Clara stepped closer, and along with the clipping noises of her heels on the hard floor, she could hear a sad strain of a flute.

She opened the door, half expecting to find the Time Lord practicing the instrument all this time without a care in the Universe. Instead, she found a rather different sight.

"Doctor?" she asked the dark room.

A bright light emitted from one side of the room. A television screen? Clara moved closer.

On a large and very comfy-looking couch sat the Doctor, bowl of popcorn in his lap, fuzzy blanket draped over his shoulders. On the tv was a bald man playing the flute.

Clara shook her head, "Really? You've been sitting here watching… what is this?"

"Eh?" the Doctor seemed woken up from his reverie and finally noticed her presence. He blinked quickly and wiped furiously at his eyes, "Oh! Clara! It's nothing, nothing.."

"Doctor?" Clara leaned in to see him better in the dim lighting. "Are you.. crying?"

"Of course not! You broke my concentration, just the eyes adjusting to the light difference.."

Clara snickered, "You are so full of it Doctor. What are you watching?" she sat beside him on the couch.

The Doctor simmered down and looked thoughtfully at her. His voice was quiet and serious, "It was a well-written story. A very.. familiar one. In my many lives, I have lived some quite ..differently and experienced many things, you know."

"Yes, but what has gotten you so upset, Doctor?" Clara was confused.

"Not upset. More.. nostalgic. I really am a sentimental old fool deep down, Clara," he pointed at the screen. "Much like Picard."

"Picard?" she asked. It sounded familiar. A memory struck her and she burst out laughing with a whooping sound, "You're watching Star Trek?!"

"Next Generation. Classic. Was always the superior, even the 100 year special couldn't top it," the Doctor explained with an academic tone he would use generally when observing something scientific.

"And you're crying!" Clara giggled.

He growled at her with furiously glaring eyebrows, "Clara, I'm amazed you even know Picard was a captain in Star Trek, and not some silly Star Wars or bloody Battlestar Galactica!"

"And now you've lost me."

"So how would you know or understand it enough to be so quick to judge, hmm?" he pointed a finger in her face. "Humans, you create masterpieces of art and then color over it with a permanent marker."

Clara stopped laughing and tilted her head, examining the Doctor. He glared back, lips pursed and eyebrows raised. He was trying to defend and protect himself with anger, as usual. Clara realized she had actually hurt his feelings.

"Doctor, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you. Tell me about why you're feeling nostalgic," she tried to reach him but he seemed to be closing down.

"Hardly matters, like you would understand, Clara, too posh for a little classic sci-fi. You want the real deal, I'll give it to you." He began to sit up and push himself off the couch.

Clara frowned and pulled him forcefully back down before she could change her mind. He seemed surprised and shocked at the physical contact. "Sit down, mister. I said I was sorry. Now tell me. I'll listen. I won't laugh. I won't tease. I promise."

Their eyes met, and she looked into the deep gray and blue pools that stared back at her. The credits of the show had long since passed, and the light of the menu screen streamed across the Doctor's face. She tried to show in her own that she genuinely cared. He seemed to question her for another moment, analyzing her expression and her hands still resting on his arms, then he finally relaxed back onto the couch.

"A dream. Or so it seems," his voice was low and gruff. "Picard lives out his days on a foreign planet, waiting to be rescued. No one ever comes for him. He learns the culture of the people, the land. He loves, he lives. He grows into an old man. But it was all just a dream. He remembers it as though he truly lived it. And he is all that remains of their world, within his memory." The Doctor's eyes are pained.

Clara released a deep breath, feeling the sorrow emanating from the only known Time Lord in the Universe. She realizes her grave mistake at laughing at him. She gently squeezes his arm, "The flute?"

"He has the flute that he learned to play on that world, and he can still remember just how to play it," the Doctor blinked several times. "But he lived for decades without the Enterprise, and was then suddenly thrust back into it, without warning. No guidelines of how to go back to flying the damn thing. And totally alone."

It really was sounding quite familiar. Clara understood now why it had struck so close to home for the Doctor.

"Not alone, Doctor," she felt a surge of emotion rise in her chest. Her voice cracked, "You are not alone."

Suddenly she found herself in his arms, held tightly to his chest with her face buried into his neck.

"I thought you didn't like hugging?" she asked him with a secret smile.

"This is the only exception to the rule, I hope you understand."

"Oh, so you get hugs when you need them, but I have to fight for one when I do?"

"You're right, life isn't fair," he stated like a matter-of-fact, making no apologies.

Clara sighed dramatically to act frustrated and pushed back as he released her from his tight grip, and kissed him on the cheek. She giggled at his almost indistinguishable blush. "Doctor, you know what I meant. Next time you want to marathon-watch Star Trek, you just tell me!"

"Kirk or Picard, my Clara?"

She glanced up at his mischievous eyebrow, knowing he was asking her a deeper question. The young and handsome man of action? Or the wise older man of logic and philosophy? She could almost see both of them within his face now, pleading and smirking at the same time.

Clara grabbed some popcorn from his bowl with a knowing grin, "Janeway."

 **Thanks for reading, please review!**


	2. Keep In Your Hands and Feet

**#2: Keep In Your Hands and Feet**

"You can't seriously be afraid of heights, Clara."

"Shut up."

"You're strapped into a harness, safe as can be. Tell you what, I'll let you hold my hand if you like." Those bushy eyebrows wiggled in sarcastic delight.

Clara simply glared at him, "Safe as can be, besides the possibility of agonizing death."

"Only a few people die on it every year," the Doctor stuck his hands into his pockets.

"A few...?" Clara prompted.

"Alright, a few dozen," he admitted with a sneer.

Clara nodded with chagrin, "And you want me to just pop right in and say tally ho! I'm on a ride of death!"

The Doctor snorted, "You do remember that you were the one who suggested a theme park."

"Yes, but I forgot I was asking Mr. Extreme-Danger-For-Fun," she pointed at him.

"It's only dangerous if you're an idiot. People try to stick out their arm to touch something or stand up or unhook their harness. Nothing to worry about if you've got a good head on your shoulders," he smirked.

Clara sighed and looked up. The roller-coaster looked more like an enormous skyscraper castle of metal, twisting and turning around trees, giant shrubs, and fountains that sprayed up onto the riders. Several of the highest loops were hidden behind smoky clouds. The screams of a few dozen riders could be heard in the distance.

"There are ten year old children riding this thing, Clara! Hold on, you are tall enough to ride it, aren't you?"

"Alright fine!" she snapped. A couple of park guests quickly skipped past them with worried glances. The Doctor's smug grin was almost unbearable for her to stand. Clara took in a deep breath. Calm down, it's only a bit of fun, she told herself with wavering confidence. It's just like Disneyland. Only a couple hundred stories taller.

They started to move toward the short line that was forming ahead of them for the ride.

The Doctor stopped suddenly. "You sure?" he asked, feigning concern.

Clara growled at him, "Piss off."

She walked quickly away from him to sneak into a different spot in the line. A theme park worker called her over to a seat in the middle of the second carriage and strapped her in. She hoped, not so secretly, that the Doctor would be seated far away from her. Clara gulped and began to await her possible doom.

"This is the fastest and most complicatedly designed roller-coaster this side of the Universe, you know. I wouldn't blame you, but if you could avoid being sick on me, it would be much appreciated," the Doctor's gravelly voice muttered right behind her.

Clara groaned, "Please don't tell me I now have to listen to you narrate the entire ride how it was built and all of the back story of the railings, cushions, and deaths."

"Oh no, you won't be able to hear anything over the roar of the engine on this beauty."

"Brilliant."

"But I could tell you a little before we take off about what would happen if the engine were to shut off unexpectedly-"

"Shut up right now, Doctor."

"It's just a ride, Clara!" she heard him chuckle right before the bell rang and the coaster took off at lightening speed.

Clara screamed. After the Doctor had admitted that so many people had died on the coaster, it didn't look so appealing after all. She was deeply regretting asking him to bring her here. Up and around a bend, the coaster picked up serious speed. They whirled around a few turns, went up a ladder of railings and then rocketed back down toward the ground again.

She was sure they would crash right into the ground, but the coaster followed the metal railings and sailed upwards just at the last second.

The Doctor was right, the engine was extraordinarily loud, but all Clara could hear was the wind whipping around her. They were splashed by a water fountain and tossed back and forth in their harnesses by the brutal force of the ride.

All Clara really wanted was to be able to prove to him she could handle it, and then shove her index and middle fingers in that leering alien face of his.

Just when Clara was beginning to think that it maybe wasn't that bad of a ride, an ominous dark shadow covered the sun above them. Clara dared to glance up.

She saw what appeared to be a giant dragon flying overhead.

"Bloody hell!?" Clara shrieked to the wind.

The beast had red scales, golden eyes peering down at them, enormous purple wings that spanned across the sky, and a frighteningly large set of sharp teeth in its Cheshire-like grin.

Hologram, a voice that sounded similar to the Doctor's said in her mind. Must be a hologram as part of the thrill of the ride.

The dragon roared and reared back it's head to take a breath deep. It then released a torrent of fire across the front bow of the coaster, instantly frying the first few people in the carriage ahead of her.

Clara's eyes widened. Okay, maybe not a hologram.

The wind whirled around them and the coaster began to slow down just as it started a climb of an upside down loop that reached up into the clouds. They were nearing the highest peak of the ride.

A few moments later, the coaster came to a complete stop with a whine of metal, and Clara found herself looking upside down through the mist at the ground far below them, her necklace in her face and hair hanging straight down.

Everything was eerily quiet besides a few people who could be heard crying. Clara's ears were struggling to adjust to the change in pressure. She blinked rapidly to stop the water forming in her eyes from falling.

The dragon was flying around below them, sniffing at the air as if trying to figure out where they were.

She was going to murder the strangely quiet Doctor in his sleep for this.

"I'm getting out of here!" a man with pink skin and spiky red hair sitting in front of her yelled.

Clara gasped, "No! We'll figure something out, don't-"

She was too late, he had managed to reach the release button of his harness and he fell down through the misty clouds.

Clara struggled to keep calm. She watched as the dragon looked up in their direction, its sharp smile widening. She wondered if the Doctor's sonic screwdriver could do dragon.

Suddenly a large team of aircraft appeared and began shooting darts at the flying creature. It roared and began to slowly circle down to rest on the ground of the theme park, subdued.

A few people began to applaud. A voice sounded over an intercom system that apologized for the inconvenience and announced that the ride would start back up in a few minutes.

Clara's blood rushing to her head, it took all of her power not to just faint in relief.

The Doctor's breath on the back of her neck brought her back to reality. "Spraloktors. . . a native giant reptile of this planet. Apparently they've been having issues with a little infestation of them around the city."

"A little. ." Clara managed to growl, feeling her face turning red.

Without looking at him, she knew the Doctor was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "It was always a possibility, I just never bother to check the weather report, if you will. It's like a drizzle of rain on this planet, happens every so often. They usually do a good job of keeping them out of the park though."

"You knew that, and still suggested the cloud high roller-coaster."

He was grimacing, "When you put it that way..."

"And that's why people jump out of the ride sometimes."

"It's so unlikely that they would get all the way up here, it's a once in a blue moon thing, Clara! No need to be over dramatic."

"Doctor."

His movements stilled at her tone and he sat quietly like a man about to meet his fate.

"What do you say?" she asked him.

He sighed, "Sorry."


End file.
